Miscellaneous 3 min. read

The 10 most unsafe cities in America — where hackers are always watching

The 10 most unsafe cities in America — where hackers are always watching

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Only, it doesn’t, as Las Vegas has been found to be the most unsafe city in America—a place where your sensitive information is always at risk for hacking.

So yeah, if you’re in Vegas and you think your private data is safe—think again.

A recent study looked at network connectivity and device-related data in the 55 most popular cities in the country. They ranked a user’s level of risk as a threat score out of 10. The score was determined based on various discovered vulnerabilities, such as incorrect routing, spoofing, captive portals, rogue access points, and honeypots. The score is not influenced by carriers or networks as those are mostly standardized; the difference arrives in the increased presence of malicious actors in each area. With Vegas being a hub for major hacker conferences like DefCon, it’s perhaps no surprise that it’s also the most unsafe city for cybersecurity.

Most unsafe cities in US for cybersecurity

  1. Tampa – St. Petersburg, FL (Threat score: 8.3)
  2. Orlando – Daytona Beach, FL (Threat score: 8.5)
  3. West Palm Beach – Fort Pierce, FL (Threat score: 8.9)
  4. Jacksonville, FL (Threat score: 8.9)
  5. Birmingham, AL (Threat score: 9.0)
  6. Providence – New Bedford, MA (Threat score: 9.0)
  7. Houston, TX (Threat score: 9.2)
  8. Charlotte, NC (Threat score: 9.8)
  9. Memphis, TN (Threat score: 9.8)
  10. Las Vegas, NV (Threat score: 10)

Yes, Las Vegas scored a perfect 10 out of 10. Oh, and don’t go to Florida.

most unsafe citiesSafest cities in US for cybersecurity

  1. Kansas City, MO (Threat score: 6.5)
  2. Salt Lake City, UT (Threat score: 6.5)
  3. Fresno – Visalia, CA (Threat score: 6.5)
  4. Phoenix, AZ (Threat score: 6.5)
  5. Albuquerque – Santa Fe, NM (Threat score: 6.4)
  6. St. Louis, MO (Threat score: 6.3)
  7. Seattle – Tacoma, WA (Threat score: 6.3)
  8. Norfolk – Portsmouth – Newport News, VA (Threat score: 6.2)
  9. Greensboro – High Point – Winston Salem, NC (Threat score: 6.2)
  10. Richmond – Petersburg, VA (Threat score: 5.8)

Virginia is clearly a pretty good place to go if you don’t want your sensitive information stolen. It’s thought of as the gold standard for cybersecurity in the U.S. You’d expect Richmond would be a primary target for hackers, too, given it’s the home to many high-tech, data-rich organizations, as well as its many data centers. The fact that it obliterates the field with a threat score of just 5.8 suggests its cybersecurity practices are paying off.

At the end of the day, no matter which city you live in, you’re always at serious risk of hacking. With more and more data being collected online, the market for our sensitive information is huge—and cyber crime is at an all-time high. So make sure you’re connecting to your Hotspot Shield app whenever you’re using free, unsecured WiFi—like you’d find at a coffee shop or airport. Hotspot Shield encrypts your data and provides a secure “tunnel” for it to travel through. With Hotspot Shield, your data is secure against hacking—even if you live in Vegas.

Want to know which airports you’re most likely to get hacked at? How about the states you most likely to become a victim of catfishing? Follow the Hotspot Shield blog for more stories.

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